Consumer Attitudes, Nutrition Knowledge, and Use Of Nutrition Information On The Labels Of Packaged Drinks Among Adolescents In Surakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

Health problem have been increasing as a result of unhealthy food consumption pattern. The increasing preference for sweet taste, advanced technology and reasonably cheap prices of packaged drinks are the contributing factors for this increased consumption. More than half of Indonesian people consume ready-to-drink beverages in package. Consumers may not be able to assess the nutritional quality of food and drink directly. Therefore, it is important for manufacturers to inform the nutritional quality of their products through an article. Nutritional values on the label information are believed to help consumers choose the right products according to their need. This research studied the behavior of adolescents in Surakarta when consuming beverages other than bottled water, milk and herbs, as well as the frequency of consumption, respondents’ behavior, nutritional knowledge related to ready-to-drink beverages, as well as the use of nutritional value information to select their drinks based on gender and frequency of consumption. The result showed that youths in Surakarta had become consumers of packaged beverages. Most of them consumed irregularly. Only 2 of 169 respondents had good knowledge and unfortunately, for the quality of nutrition, youths in Surakarta did not pay much attention to the provided nutrition information. Light users paid more attention to ingredients and nutrition information better than the other groups, and female respondents cared more on the nutrition information than male.